WEEK FIVE MINGLE

[grigori]

nerak: week 5 mingle at your service

25 Remain

Waking up this morning will reveal some unfamiliar surroundings. While Camebit had an autumnal chill in the air, things are a little different, now - the air is frigid, and waking up is an adventure, considering you are swaddled to the nines and cozied right up to your roomie of the week (where you have one, anyways). Everything around you is made of ice and packed snow, fogged glass and porcelain, and it is freezing. Who thought this was a good idea? Even the brisk chill of Camebit in the skies above everything was more forgiving than this! This isn't a transition! Whose manager can you speak to..?

About that.



You have to trek out of the lodging, and over into the building made of actual wood and stone, to actually see your Watchers of the week. They're all dressed in their full cloaks again to combat the chill, even in this building, although both Rameel and Satariel are standing much closer to Yomiel than they usually do - much like they had in Ahnkeen, actually.

"Good morning and welcome to Nerak! If you've ever wondered what it was like to stay at an ice hotel, then you're in luck!" Rameel says with moderate flourish as they make sure to keep close to Yomiel—their daemon currently not found anywhere near them as they make the announcement. Looks like they're without their black box of musical wonders this morning.

While the other two Watchers press close, Yomiel's daemon has wrapped itself around their neck like a polecat scarf. Warm. Arm cradled gently against their chest, they pause to glance at Satariel before greeting everyone. "Try to be careful. The ice can get slippery, especially when you're all looking like that and leaving a mess everywhere you go." Whatever that means.

Satariel seems a little more subdued than usual but offers everyone a smile, daemon bear-shaped against their back, large head peering around at everyone while they take in the travelers that come to join them here in the hotel lobby. Their cloak is completely closed around them - not even the front of their dress can be seen, and they're clearly holding it tightly shut. "Please be nice to the hotel staff - if I catch any of you being rude to them, I'll kick you clear across the tundra before sticking you in their outdoor 'jail' for timeout. We're guests, but they're working hard to accommodate us, alright?"


With the new week, travelers will find that they no longer the adorable animal features they did in Camebit, but something much less cute. Injuries from their pasts have come back to haunt them, major or minor, and they cannot be healed. The good thing is that they don't seem to hurt or really take a toll on the travelers at all - at least, not until they're touched, and then both you the other will feel the pain from the moment the wound was inflicted. This effect lasts all week.

full navigation ✨ locations ✨ statuses ✨ profiles ✨ audiences ✨
private conversations ✨ murder proposals ✨ curfew ✨ daemons ✨

Comments

TOWN HALL!

[yueshen]

[ as before, the roar of a qilin will disrupt any noise in the lobby - loud enough to be heard all over! following the sound will take you to the lobby, where xie lian is waiting, sholmes nearby. xie lian himself wearing a white cable knit sweater over his robes - blood leaks faintly through the knitting at his chest, but it seems the layers he's in cover whatever it is beyond that.

once a crowd is gathered, he addresses, clear and precise: ]

It is time we met and discussed to share information towards our larger goal, as we've done. There are many things that we all need to discuss relating to the overall conflict we have found ourselves in - from our investigations of each realm to our knowledge of this place. Please mind what you say and how you say it, as some information must be delivered very carefully. Topics will be brought up accordingly, and if you feel as though something cannot be shared with the group at large, please feel free to run it by myself or the others - [ nodding to sholmes ] - and we can discuss it more privately.

Be as thorough as you can - remember all that we are here to help each other and end this conflict once and for all.

[ hold for sub tls! thank you! ]

SUMMARIES / ADDITIONAL NOTES

[yueshen]

[ do not reply to this tl! i will edit it with summaries of what's talked about today as we go / after if im dying or lost ]

GENERAL

[greatdeduction]

[Sholmes is sitting in his typical detective wear, though one may note that he has seemingly stuffed some sort of cloth around his abdomen within the confines of the coat - its staining red through the coat, though. He looks tired, Irene in crow form at his shoulder.]

Now then, we will discuss certain topics at hand such as our adventures and things we have discovered, but if there is anything that generally has not been discussed before, please bring it up now. Any inconsistencies, abnormalities, or anything that has struck your intuition can be mentioned here. I do believe we have a grand plot that spans the worlds we have visited, and it is up to us to put the pieces together and not see the forest for the trees.

Also, if anyone has any letters from the dead to share that has not yet been shared or had information you want to go over and discuss among the many, please do so. It seems our dead need food and money for...some peculiar reason, so perhaps we should make efforts to help them in that regard. Please discuss what you have found.

[pls wait for a couple of sub sub TLs here]

DEAD LETTERS

[greatdeduction]

[discussion of letters from the dead go here!]

CALAMITIES

[greatdeduction]

In every world, it seems, a calamity has been mentioned or has occurred.

In the city of Cittagazze - not especially clear. Something involving the spectres driving the adults away, leaving the children abandoned.
In the city of Krankaz - the entire city sank to the sea. Some of the notes and such we have found have suggested they were perusing some sort of discovery - was it weapons? Regardless, as we saw, the kingdom had sunk, and its denizens killed or turned into those immortal fish people. Dreadful.
In the city of Otamo - destroyed by a great fire from the sky. The shards may have played a role in it, since we did see fire through some - the survivors we met were mostly unknowing of the exact details. Of course, as in other cities, angels may have played a role.
In the city of Ankheen - somewhat rather unclear, but most suitably connected with the serpent skeleton in the middle of the city. Perhaps their protector or guardian? Perhaps it wasn't a desert as it is now.
In the city of Camebit - it seems the people there chose magic over "support of the authority". Some were indebted to a war they stated they had no part in...hm. Unclear details here.

Please share what you know regarding the disasters in these regions.

ROLE DISCUSSION

[grigori]

[ strangely, baraqiel comes to town hall? the watchers never come to town halls, and usually keep their distance to allow the information to flow between travelers without their presence as a distraction. but they seem... cross, at the moment, while also exhausted at the same time. even the golden dust that illuminates and obscures their face and hands seems a touch dimmer. they reach up to swipe their thumb under the right side of their mask, flicking away a little blood, rubbing thumb and forefinger together to remove the rest as they wait for xie lian and sholmes both to stop speaking. their daemon stands next to them in tiger form, tail lashing and ears back.

then, they speak with their low voiced raised firmly in clear, cold anger. ]

I would have thought that the trial back in Otamo would have been enough of an incentive, but I guess not. [ apparently they're done being nice today. ] Stop talking about roles. Stop looking for roles. If they come to you, then they come to you. If they don't, then they don't. Let them do their fucking jobs and stop badgering the people you suspect might have roles, because even theorizing about them to someone that doesn't have a role could very well result in problems if you don't watch what you're saying. There are greater restrictions in place for who they communicate with and what they can communicate, further than the weekly team shares you can do. And if they break those restrictions, there are consequences.

Namely, consequences that we, the Watchers, suffer. And the more of those consequences we're put through, the less power we're able to dedicate to helping you, and the more likely it is that the roles in question will be punished as well. You've already seen it happen, once. Stop putting us through that.

If you already know? Great. Fine. But shut your damn mouths and just help them instead of toeing the lines that you're toeing. If you know a role? No you don't. If you know information comes from a role? No you don't. Just talk about the information and let it spread without acknowledging where it comes from.

[ that's all. they exit the town hall after that, cloak billowing with their exit and tiger on their heels, leaving you to discuss the rest amongst yourselves. ]

Past Killers

[aono]

[Let's pretend I didn't delay this a few hours because of work and this happened right away, yes.]

So, uh. I talked with the Watchers about the past killers, so see if we can communicate with them and stuff. Because obviously they'd know the most about these dust angels, yeah?

I was told that they can't talk about it at all with anyone except the Watchers themselves. They can't even hint at it, because they'll get punished and probably killed for it if any of us figure out they were a killer and spread that information around. Apparently the only reason I was able to talk about stuff is that you guys caught me and voted me out, so now it's okay?

[And it's not even that helpful because Rin wasn't visited by a dust angel. Welp.]

But anyway, if you think you know someone who killed that we didn't catch, don't talk about it to the person who you think it is! They can't admit to it anyway and you'll just get them in trouble.

And for the killers: if you want to help, you can pass messages to us as long as it's completely anonymous and we can't figure out who you are from the message. So if you wanna help us with figuring out what's up with the dust angels or how to beat any of this, just be really careful with what you say. I'm sure everyone here would like to get the information, but I don't want you to get punished for mistakenly giving yourself away.

CYOA LORE + NOTES

[yueshen]

[ posted on the bulletin board are a list of carefuly recopied notes from each cyoa group.

please feel free to comment with theories or additions! ♥ ]

[veraltwin]

[At some point during all of this Alisaie is going to stand and make her way to the front, arms folded. Normally she'd just speak from wherever she'd been sitting, but... haaaaaaaa. Taf is in his usual perch on her shoulders, but Alisaie's wrapped up in a heavy red sweater that, as with many of the others, seems to have a darker patch on her left side. Fun times over here.

Anyway.]

We did not have the opportunity to share last week what happened when Akira, Rin, van Zieks, and I were pulled from Ahnkeen. Given that the information we learned will undoubtedly be of importance, we would share it now.

The four of us were brought to a city of ruins, covered in soot and ash. We discovered a building that contained imagery of note, of which van Zieks took a photo. As we progressed through the ruins, we realized that the city had been destroyed by a volcano--its source was known as the Kiln, and it was to this mountain that we journeyed. We met with a young man who guided us and other living beings toward the peak, but as the Kiln "opened," our party was separated.

Anything more about the Kiln I will refer to Rin and Akira, as they remained above ground with our guide. van Zieks and I fell into a cavern below. We were able to see light in the distance, and when we emerged, it was into what we learned was called the Garden.

[She takes a moment to gather herself before continuing.]

Though it was called the Garden, in truth it was little more than a barren wasteland. Any life that had once flourished had been destroyed by a Calamity, "the end of Eden." van Zieks took a photo of this, as well; we are in possession of the images he captured still in spite of his passing.

In the Garden was a tree of impossible size, split in twain. Sitting beneath the tree we encountered an Angel--but not an Angel as they are known to us now. This Angel, called Uriel, was... much older than they, I believe.

Uriel said they had been protecting the Garden for millennia, waiting for "hope." When I questioned them further, they said they were waiting for hope "for every world you have known, will never know, and could never know" to end an Inquisition. We were unable to learn more about this Inquisition save that it is what brought forth the Calamities across innumerable worlds, but they and van Zieks spoke of the angels we know and what they may be. Uriel confirmed that which we already know: The angels that approach our number are not to be trusted.

Uriel bade us do something for them. [She pauses, lowering her chin to her hand to find the best words to describe it.] They said... "The Kingdom of Heaven is within each of us."

They asked us to find where it might be born anew.

[She'll let that sit for a moment, but before there can be any responses she's lifting a hand to forestall--SHE'S STILL NOT DONE YET.]

Uriel said that we would know when we had found the correct place. We must hold onto our hope that we will do so, and believe in that hope. They said that we must needs learn the worlds we travel and their stories, and to share our own amongst each other. By fostering the unity between our number, we will find a way to stop this Inquisition and the Calamities which destroy worlds. I think it safe to say that is why we have been split as we are, and why the angels seek to turn us against one another--but such theorizing will hold for now.

As we spoke with Uriel, a storm gathered and a trumpet sounded. At this time, Akira and Rin were returned to us, and Uriel said that the trumpet heralded the arrival of one known as the Lord Regent. They said that "he must not take you" and bade us to run.

The Lord Regent is a threat beyond all others we have faced thus far. He slew Uriel before us in a single strike, enraging the serpent that was his companion, and he sought to slay us as well. He swore that "the eyes of the Chariot" follow our every move and that we cannot leave his sight. I think it all but certain we will encounter him again.

Finally, 'twas he who was responsible for van Zieks' and mine own wounds. [Alisaie reaches to her right shoulder, touching where she'd been stabbed.] I feel it is important we are all aware--when he ran my shoulder through with his blade, his rage suggested that he had missed his actual target.

He was aiming for Taftosimi atop my shoulder, not me. Thus we may surmise... he knows what our daemons are.

[perfectdistance]

Kotetsu, A-qing and I ended up underneath Camebit. Down there we encountered some ghosts. They said that this was the real Camebit. We ended up splitting from there, but... for me this part was personal. Please don't ask about what we experienced with the ghosts.

At a certain point, we woke up in a broken chapel, 'n with an angel, Raguel. They said many belong and reside in the miasma, but we were fortunate and they were able to assist us. They're unaligned, and brought us to a safe haven from the miasma. Said we couldn't stay because neither side cares about people who lose themselves to their regrets.

They also said the people of Camebit chose magic over the support of the Authority- which likely means the Temporals. And as a result they were punished with the miasma. Others offered salvation in sendin' 'em to the sky and they're part of a war they shouldn't be part of. I'm guessing they mean the same "war" we're all stuck in right now.

Raguel said they were once a friend of god, but not anymore. Because God's only helpin' those that are on their side. The others aren't better, because they're fueled by anger.

Also... Gods are not infallible.

They'd never heard of Celestials and Temporals, just the Authority and Xaphania. If we're here, then our worlds are within the reach of them.

Camebit used to worship the Authority, but strayed from their path. Xaphania interfered and let some people survive the miasma.

We also received some items that will likely be useful to us movin' forward.

[booksleeves]

Um, one thing we might talk about from this list is that heavily redacted note we received last week.

[You know, this one?]

We spoke a little at trial, but perhaps it would be good to try and see if we can understand its meaning now that we have a little more time? It would seem to provide some insight into how the killers are chosen, which might serve to help us in the future. . .

EXTRA NOTES

[malewife]

[ These will be orated again, a long with whatever is on the notes on the bulletin. ]

Cittàgazze

Angel is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is spirit; if you seek the name of their office, it is angel; from what they are, spirit, from what they do, angel.

.̴͛͘,̵͑̕.̶̊̎/̶͊̍/̶̿̄z̷͛̕/̷́̂z̵͓̆/̶̽̔\̸͐́1̷̔͂2̷́̃$̶̃́.̴́͑?̶͒̀+̷́̋_̵̇͗hile angels are typically formed from heavy concentrations of Dust, they need not always have been spirit alone. Given the right circumstances, a human may ascend to become an ang.̴͛͘,̵͑̕.̶̊̎/̶͊̍z̵͓̆/̶̽̔\̸͐́1̷̔͂2̷́̃

.̴̲̈,̸̟͒.̸̓͌/̶̿̄z̷͛̕/̷́̂-̴̒͆≠͐͝\̴͑͋`̴̣́nce was one group of angels, there have since been two discovered. some are faithful to t$̶̃́.̴́͑?̶͒̀+̷́̋_̵̇͗*̶̒̂^̵̈̃
— book excerpt

other things found on mini cyoas here.

KRANKAZ

— note

OTAMO

"Few are able to prove themselves worthy of ascending, to earn their wings and join the angels. For those that do, I wonder — is it worth it? Does this truly grant the power to save those they wish to protect? Or does it simply put them directly in harm's way?"
— note found in wallet from cyoa 4

AHNKEEN

"Little of the angels can be understood by man, for most are born of Dust and few ascend to join their ranks. Fewer still choose to leave those ranks, and return to the world from whence they came, for they can only do so as long as that which ties them to humanity is kept safe."
— note

y bring their blessings to th
ome and go as ever, we still have yet to learn h
seen in other worlds, not solely our
ust other patrons, not so reve
he snake protects us sti
— engravings from ruins

Camebit

"The elimination of Dust would eliminate the Original Sin."
— note

IMPORTANT ITEMS.

[yueshen]

Additionally. [ speaking up especially, here. ]

Each group that went on an adventure received several items. While I would not ask you to disclose any golden feathers that you have, or powers you may have obtained, there are two things I specifically would like to address.

Firstly - my group received an item on our journey that we did not know what to do with, that we were told may come in handy later. It had no powers attained to it, and it was something we used within the catacombs. Rochalizo can tell you more of it than I can. Did any other group receive anything similar?

Secondly - we also located two items that we believe may belong to the Watchers, on two separate journeys, as Alphinaud mentioned before. There is a third that was not recovered, but there should be a total of six. If you have a different item that is not attained to a power that may have a sensation to it such as warmth or a chill, then I must request that you take it to a Watcher. We can try to figure out which items belong to which Watcher, as well.

[afterword]

I was part of the group with Alphinaud, Suigetsu and Power.

[ So the second thing addressed, well, Xie Lian already knows, but the first... ] The only item I can think of that may be considered important is the detective novel we found on the ship. I won't go into details regarding it since Sir Alphi was entrusted with it so I'll let him explain.

I will say that it wasn't something we used during our adventures though. So I have to assume each group is given something useful if we happen to do the Scenario successfully- [ "Scenario" ] the journey, I mean.

[arcsplainist]

[ Once he's finished, Alphinaud steps up. ]

Thank you, Xie Lian—'twas my hope that this could be brought to our attention once more, as well as the importance of it.

Though the third of the Watcher's possessions was not recovered, thankfully the fourth was; this I have had confirmed, as well as the Watcher it was returned to. Thus far, Satariel, Suriel, and Yomiel are cleared on our list. As for the one we were not able to bring back... [ Alphinaud trails off, briefly. ] It—should be all right to mention whose it is, yes?

[booksleeves]

Hmm. I don't recall our group receiving any item of this description - we received a message that I shared with you, and items with certain abilities, but that is all.

However. . . we happened to go to another world, one very different than Ankheen. Could that be related? I am aware some groups never truly leave the world we find ourselves in.

[allyship]

[matter-of-fact,]

I have a switch to detonate an explosive. A hypothetical one, mind you, that we may have to procure or build ourselves.

[aono]

Yeah, we got an item from our trip too. It's not an item for a Watcher, we missed out on that while we were there, but it's something else.

[Someone already talked about how they missed Baraqiel's item, so!]

I think the thing we got is supposed to help at the end, somehow? It seems important. But uh, Alisaie knows more about it than I do. She was the one who spoke to the guy who gave it to us.

[He'll wait for her to share her thing before saying anything more.]

[rerouter]

I don't think we found anything like that... [HM. If A-Qing, Nero or Kotetsu are here, she'll glance in their direction.] What about the other group?

LOCATION INVESTIGATIONS

[greatdeduction]

[ all of the location notes from the previous town hall are pasted here. please see sub-sub TLs for new investigations! ]

ANKHEEN - OTAMO - KRANKAZ - CITTAGAZZE

[greatdeduction]

CAMEBIT

[greatdeduction]

NERAK

[greatdeduction]

CATHOLICS?

[yueshen]

In other meetings, we have come to realize that this situation has some analogy with a religion familiar to those such as the ones Rin and Allen were able to speak with us about.

If there are any stories that any of you are familiar with that would be useful to us, such as the one told last time about the Garden of Eden, now would be a good time to share them. About Angels, 'Creators', or any other symbols that may have become important in the time since. This may be a place to share any questions that you have about it in a group setting, as well.

[ attached to the bulletin board is a summary of the garden of evil story, and additionally, a note torn from a journal, both written in xie lian's neat handwriting:

Allen restated the story of the Garden of Eden to me, and pointed out that the "apple" doesn't just mean knowledge as in intelligence, but also in temptation - specifically, knowledge of the forbidden or the deviant.

He also noted to me that the serpent as evil, that it also represents that temptation of knowledge - but it may also be a representation of 'Lucifer', an angel who was cast out of heaven by their single god. Supposedly, he was the God's favorite of the angels, but he led a fight against that god over the creation of man, casting the rebellious angels and Lucifer out in a heavenly war. ]

[malewife]

... There are over 42,000 denominations of Christianity, if we are basing it off that. Their views and the weight of certain parts of scripture or practices are construed by their sect leader. Whatever we're learning may draw from them, but may not be the same.

In my world, there is a Constellation group called < Eden >, they are the biblical angels, but their group is led by Metatron, an archangel—his modifier is Scribe of Heaven. While Metatron isn't an angel within Christianity, he is an angel in other religions. He shows up as an angelic figure in a good number of fictional works as well, usually being described as one of the highest angels. Scribes would say his human identity was Enoch...

And it would seem that the Apocryphal Books of Enoch which are ascribed to him, also known as the Book of Watchers, details the origins of 20 primary fallen angels who were known as the grigori, or the Watchers.